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The National Mint of Greece won the Coin of the Year (COTY) Awards’ “Best Crown Coin” category for 2022-dated coins. The 10 Euro winning coin honors the Antikythera Mechanism, a piece of ancient Greek technology that has been described as the world’s oldest analogue computer.

The Antikythera mechanism was recovered from a shipwreck found in 1900 by sponge divers off the island of Antikythera. Built in Hellenistic times, the intricate device was used for astronomical calculations, including predicting lunar and solar eclipses. The device is currently displayed in the Bronze Collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. As described by the National Mint of Greece:

Its more than 30 bronze gearwheels rotated pointers over different dials. Thus, manually selecting a date on the main dial – which represented the zodiac, as well as the solar and lunar years – shifted the smaller gears, so that the pointers on the other dials indicated the position of the selected date in the four-year cycle of the Panhellenic games (Olympia, Pythia, Isthmia, Nemea), the positions of the five then-known planets and the correlation with astronomy cycles that were of particular interest to the ancient Greeks.

The Antikythera Mechanism coin is part of the series Greek culture – Ancient Greek technology. It was designed and engraved by Geórgios Stamatópoulos.

The reverse depicts the Antikythera mechanism. It is surrounded by the lettering ΑΡΧΑΙΑ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΤΕΧΝΟΛΟΓΙΑ 2022 (ANCIENT GREEK TECHNOLOGY 2022) and Ο ΜΗΧΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ ΤΩΝ ΑΝΤΙΚΥΘΗΡΩΝ (THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM).

The coin’s obverse features the coat of arms of Greece, along with the lettering ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΔΗΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΑ (HELLENIC REPUBLIC) and 10 ΕΥΡΩ (10 Euro).

The 10 Euro silver proof coin weighs 34.10 grams and measures 44 mm in diameter. Mintage is limited to 2,000 pieces.